ATKINSON — Atkinson to Hampstead: Who can save the most?
The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee is pushing town officials to issue a challenge to their neighbors to see which town can reduce its carbon footprint the most. The challenge may even trim some tax bills.
Selectmen plan to host a workshop to talk about energy savings and the challenge, but Chairman Paul Sullivan said they haven't scheduled it yet. They are waiting for the results of an energy audit the selectmen asked the committee to have done on all town buildings, which he said has been completed.
Once the selectmen call the challenge, the library plans to get onboard, Kimball Library Director Diane Heer said yesterday.
The library and fire station are pretty efficient because they are new buildings, energy committee member Michelle Veasey said. She took someone from the Unitil electric company around to do the energy audit and they had a few suggestions for how the town could cut its bill.
The community center has been refitted with energy-efficient lights, and Unitil said the same should be done at the police station and Town Hall.
The Kimball House, which is where the historical society meets and has its museum, was the least energy-efficient building, Veasey said. The recommendation to save money there was to close the building and shut off the heat for a couple of winter months, she said.
But the house has too many antiques in it to have the heat shut off, Veasey said. She met with historical society members and talked about buying thermal shades as an efficient method to help heat rooms when the museum isn't open.
The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee members plan to ask the selectmen to allocate money in next year's budget to do a more thorough audit of the buildings, Veasey said.
They are still researching the costs, but she said it should be reasonable and save money in the long run. The audit would check to see if buildings are airtight, but have proper circulation.
